Monday, 22 January 2018

Roadtrip - The Bear and Star (Los Olivos)

We had a fun time stopping in Solvang and doing olive oil tastings. But it was lunchtime and both of us were getting hungry. I had several places on my "list"; Sides Hardware, Los Olivos Wine Merchant....but it was the menu at The Bear and Star, a rather newish place in the Fess Parker (remember him?) Inn that got us to walk in.

The place was rather full and at first we didn't think they'd have a table for us, but we were seated on the back porch area. It was nice and quiet.

The menu screamed "New American" and in typical fashion we ordered four appetizers for our meal. We really enjoy touring a menu via appetizers, something we really started doing about five years ago. Our Server was so nice and accommodating. She even took time to really describe every dish for the Missus.

First up; the Chicken Liver Mousse ($9). This version was whipped to a very creamy and light texture.

It was bit on the sweet side for us and just pouring the marmalade into the ramekin didn't help things as we'd have preferred to have it on the side. Still, very nice, light offal flavors, if a bit too sweet. I enjoyed the toast as it was crisp and overly hard.

The Missus just can't help Herself when it comes to Devilled Eggs. We ordered two of the Smoked Guajillo ($3) and two of the Bacon ($3).

This was nice; very solid versions of devilled eggs. I enjoyed the smokey flavors of the guajillo version while the Missus enjoyed the more classic bacon flavored ones.

Glazed with a soy-sweet chili sauce that wasn't too salty nor too sweet; the condensed flavors of the different squashes came through. There were a couple of slices that were really outstanding. Our cheerful Server told the Missus those were slices of Mother Hibbard Squash that cam from the vineyard's garden. Surprisingly good.

I thought the Smoked Wagyu Carpaccio ($17) sounded interesting. I will say, it was "different".

It was quite the presentation. The meat seemed to be cold smoked; the texture a bit fibrous and grainy. The smoked flavor on the mild side. The mushrooms were strange as it seemed to be dried and was like eating cardboard. This actually needed more salt....something we rarely say. Kind of a strange dish for us.

Overall, we enjoyed our meal, we'd gladly revisit. We really enjoyed our Server who was friendly, knowledgeable, and very efficient.